Improvement in lasts



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PATENT NATHANIEL JoNEs, oF sYRAcUsE, New YORK.

IMPROVEMENT `IN LASTS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. ll, dated ugust 23, 1370.

To all whom it may concern-: d

Be it known that I, NATHANIEL JoNEs, of Syracuse, `Onondaga county, State of New York, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Lasts for Boots and Shoes; and the following is hereby declared to be a correct description of the same.

The object of my improvement is to provide a last that can be adjusted or varied in the shape ot the instep and top ofthe foot, so as to accommodate the different circumferential measurements of feet of the same length and dispense wholly with the use of illingpieces of leather to aid in giving the shape to the last; and said improvement consists in alast in which the-upper or block portion ot' the same is made in sections connected to each other by joints, so that the sections can be' adjusted to obtain the desired shape and measurement of the last, and the said sections are adjusted by screws passing through the main or body portion of the last.

Thisinvention allows the main or body portion ot" the last to bemade of one piece, so as to be solid and iirm for the nailing on ot' the sole, whereas the lasts heretofore made with longitudinal divisions so as to be spreadlaterally are not solid for resisting the hammering l in applying the sole to the upper.

ln the drawings, Figure 1 is a vertical longitudinal section ot' my improved last, and Fig. 2 isa planof the same. Fig. 3 is a vertical longitudinal section ot a modification of the same.

a is the main or bodyportion of the last,`

and, with the upper or sectional portion, may correspond in `length and general shape to any of the given sizes ot'boots and shoes. rlhis upper or block portion I form in sections, and 1 have shown the same as made in three pieces, b c d',- but I do not limit myself in this respect, as the same might be formed in two or more sections. I connect these sections b,

c, and d to each lother by joints, and I have shown the plates e e and pins h h, so that the said sections can move or swing as they are raised by one or more of the screws, t', k, l, or p, and the space between the sections is such as to allow ofthe required movement upon'the said pins h It. as the sectionsarc raised or lowered to conform accurately to the required cir cumferential measurement.

The sections may be connected at the bot-V tom portion: by a plate, m, and this plate is to b'e attached to one of the sections by screws, or otherwise. The other sections are to be provided with screws or pins,- taking the slots a in said plate to keep the said sections in their vproper positions. i

.The screws e' lr, l, for adjusting the different sections, pass through the main body a. of the last, and areto be so located that they will act upon the ends ofthe sections, as shown,to raise or lower the same and vary the measurement at the particular part required.

rlhe screw p, applied at the upper and end portion of the section d and entering thebody a, is used for adjusting said section d so that this end of the section d may be raised from the body a, and the other sections may or may vnot be also varied by their respective screws.

These lasts are to be made of a length corresponding to the given sizes employed in the trade, and from the foregoingit will be understood that the measurements around the ,different parts b c d can be varied at pleasure and with great nicety ot'adjustmen t by simply turning` one'or more of the screws t, k, l, orp.

My improved last,'constructed as aforesaid, can be adapted tothe shape ot' almost all feet, and a boot or shoe c'anbe madeupon the same without the usual filling-pieces of leather applied upon other lasts to give the particular shape at the desired points.

In Fig. 3 I have shown the body o and sec'- tions b, c, and (l the same as in Figs. l and 2; but I have connected the same to each other by a spriug-plate'that is permanently attached to two adjoining sections, and the spring or` bend of the metal of the plate will allow of' a movement of the sections similar to that in Figs. l and 2.

The sides of the sections Z) c d might be titted with thin plates ot' sheet metal to cover up the opening between the sections and the main body a ot' the last, and thetoe part ofthe body a might have a cap of sheet met-.il to set over the end ot' the section b to allow the end to be slightly raised by the screw p.

I do not claim a last inwhich thcinstep-section is adjustable by screws and a slotted the yielding joints and adjusted in the maumetal plate connects the same with the toe ner and for tlie'pnrposes set forth.

portion of the last, as this is not reliable in Signed by me this 9th day of April, A. D. use, because the metal plate is liable to be 1870.

Iolaim as my invention- Witnesses: y Theinstep-bloeli, divided laterally into two GHAS. H. SMITH,

bent by the stretching and hammering. NATHANIEL JONES. or more rigid sections united to each other by l GEO. T. PINQKNEY. 

